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Friday, July 20, 2012

going visiting

The kids are up and excited this morning, though it is barely 8 AM. Why? Oh, because we just have a fun morning planned.

Today, we're going to visit a friend of mine and her mini-farm. Mrs. Kathy has been working very hard at becoming self-sufficient over the past few years and now has a herd of animals (goats and chickens), bee hives, and a garden of joy on her little piece of land in the country.

I have been promising the kids that we would visit her again for nearly a year and, finally, we're packing up and driving out there for the morning. Katie loves to get Mrs. Kathy's colorful eggs and Alex likes to play with her two boys.

What's even better is that she's giving me some cucumbers for canning. Oh, yum! I can just imagine the jars of pickles I'll be able to put up next week. My family liked my pickles so much last year that they were all gone by early spring, and those were just slices! What with whatever amount Mrs. Kathy gives me today, paired with whatever I can pick up at the farmers market tomorrow, I'm hoping to be able to can enough spears, slices, and relish to last a whole year. What would that look like? I don't know. A whole lot, I would imagine.

On another note, we're going to visit one of Mr. Hull's cousins in a few weeks. Apparently, the man is a prepper (which we are not.) After seeing my husband's post for his love of spam (which I do not eat), he mentioned that we ought to come out and see his supplies sometime. So, since I'm insanely curious as to how this guy's thoughts play out in real life, we're going to take him up on the offer.

Which leads me to today's thought. Do you can or otherwise preserve your food? If so, why? Are you a self-described prepper like my cousin-in-law, waiting for the shit to hit the fan? Are you looking to become more self-sufficient, putting up the things you grow, like my friend Mrs. Kathy? Or, are you more interested in saving money where you can and preserving things as they go on sale, but not actually growing them yourself, like me? Or, do you dabble in the home chores and do it just because?

1 comment:

I have a similar friend that lives about an hour outside of Memphis. In exchange for my labor every other weekend she hands over whatever veggies she has in surplus. She's looking to be self-sufficient (she has chickens, an enormous garden, and cans/freezes everything) but I was just looking to learn more about food. I've been gardening out there since May, and it's been so fun. We recently made 14 jars of sliced pickles together, and are doing salsa and tomato sauce this weekend. The pickles were incredible, I had no idea anything could taste so..bold and fresh. I already ate two jars (after I wanted the appropriate amount of time, of course!) We have a couple of books and we just test the recipes every so often. It's been one of my favorite adult experiences, and definitely my favorite since we moved!